


Shy Ty | Joshler

by franklyromantic



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - Music Store, M/M, Shy Tyler, brendon is the annoying best friend that lives in your house and eats your food, dallon's the cool stoner dude that isn't actually a stoner, melanie is a sweet child, pete's kind of an ass, zack and jay are protective bros
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2018-11-09 01:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 13,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11093844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/franklyromantic/pseuds/franklyromantic
Summary: As Tyler Joseph first walked into the music store at the mall, he was convinced he'd only leave with an album for his friends birthday.What he really got was a meeting with the guy who worked there, with dyed hair, tattoos and a piercing; basically the embodiment of bad influence.But for once, he didn't care about always being 'good' and started forcing himself out of his comfort zone.(also posted on wattpad: @/alx-wnchstr)





	1. ;one

**Author's Note:**

> I already posted a few chapters on wattpad, so I'll just throw them all on here. I don't know when I'll be able to write again, though, since it's finals time atm. however, I hope you enjoy and excuse grammar fails and stuff, since I'm from Germany :)

It was a sunny, warm day, the first one for ages, since it was only the beginning of February, and Josh stared outside the window, looking at the people who passed by the building he was currently sitting in. Everybody seemed so focused, busy, just quickly going to where they had to be, nobody took their time, let their eyes wander, nor their thoughts. It was sad, Joshua thought, only few people still allow themselves to really see the world. Even though Josh didn't think it was a nice place to live, he never blamed it on the earth itself, always the humans. They only care about themselves and most of the time don't even realize what goes past them. All the colors and noises, animals, people themselves.. It's beautiful. But nobody really appreciated art, no, they were disgusted by it.

Josh learned quickly that there weren’t many who saw things like he did. He grew up with people telling him his taste in clothes and dyed hair made him a punk, and punks are rude, yeah, even gross, and didn't have respect for anybody - but, in his opinion, if expressing himself, being happy and not caring about what others say about him made him socially unaccepted, he was fine with it. It wasn’t their business, so why take to heart what they tried to tell him? So he went his own way, did what he wanted and during his last year of school, he met Brendon, a boy with the biggest hyperactivity to ever exist who moved to Josh’s hometown, someone who was just like him and still different.

Brendon went with Josh when he got his first tattoo, just like Josh did with Brendon. They smoked their first cigarettes together, became addicted and later tried weed, of which Josh wasn’t that much of a fan, but Brendon used to do it a couple of times. They helped each other when one of them had problems with money, humans, themselves. They came out at the same time, what made people think a very long time that they were in a relationship. They got appartements as near together as possible, started working in the same shop and were pretty much inseparable, till the point where their parents stopped wondering when the other one had keys to their house. And, of course, they were together when they met their other friends, Melanie and Ashley, at a festival. While Ashley had a light tendency to doing crazy things, Melanie was entirely bonkers. Her hair always had two different colors, her outfits were conspicuous, her mind just weird and Josh loved her. Just as much as he loved Ashleys random told thoughts about more random things, her short hair and her skin-showing clothes, which many people said were inappropriate.

They were his family, and as it had to happen sooner or later, because of the train of thoughts that rushed trough Joshua’s head, his ‘brother from another mother’ kicked away the chair he was sitting on, what was really unfortunate, because Josh had used the table in the office as a foot-rest and so his fall hurt more than it would normally have.  
“What the fuck, Bren?”, he said, looking up at the dark-haired man from his position on the floor.  
“We have costumers and I’m on break,” said man informed him before taking the lately kicked chair and sitting down on it.  
“Your break ended half an hour ago,” Josh told him. “And actually, I think these guys are able to handle themselves.”  
“I don't care, just make it look like someone’s here, would be a shame if they didn't buy anything, don't you think?”

Josh sighed, but got up nevertheless and went out of the room, to the actual shop he was working in, a music store in the mall of Columbus, Ohio. He looked around, wondering if his friend pulled a prank on him to get the chair - it wouldn’t have been the first time - as he saw them. Two teenagers, maybe around 17, stalking through the shelves.

One of them, a blonde girl in a black-and-white-striped shirt, was talking to the other one, a slightly bigger (still tiny) brown-haired boy, who nodded along without seeming to really listen. Josh smirked, asking himself if the guy there was simply a daydreamer or just not interested in having a conversation with his companion, but Josh doubted it, because of the way they stood and looked at each other.

“Excuse me,” he said, leaving the question if they were a couple behind. “May I help you?”


	2. ;two

Tyler didn't turn around immediately, no, he never did in such situations. Talking to strangers made him uncomfortable - that's why he never went out alone - and he waited for Jenna to take over the situation.  
She always was great at socializing, Tyler knew that, and he was at least fifty percent sure that that's why they became friends in the first place. Everybody else would have been out weirded when a strange little boy bumps into you in the middle of grocery shopping and then just proceeds to stare at you like you're from outer space, but not Jenna Black. She was friendly, interested and really stubborn. Shortly, she didn't let him get away with staring and a muttered apology.  
Of course, thirteen years old Tyler hated her for it, but sixteen years old Tyler couldn't have been more glad to have her as his best friend.  
Especially in moments like this.

"Yeah, you can, thank you," he heard her voice from behind his back.  
"Tyler, here, and I are looking for a birthday present for a friend of ours, but we can't really find one. I don't know if we're in the wrong section or..?"

He absolutely did not want to turn around and participate in the conversation and decided to just act like he's studying the CDs on the shelf in front of him, but the fates were against him.  
"Uhmm.. Tyler? Is that your name? Are you okay? You look like you're about to throw up."

Well, shit.  
He still didn't want to talk. He just wasn't ready. But apparently, he had to now.  
So he moved. Too quick.  
And as it had to happen, he somehow managed to run against the shelf, knock out a few albums and totally fail his life while trying to catch them. Not only did they land on the floor, he did, too.  
And once again, he ended up wondering why he was even born.  
Now, it couldn't get worse, he thought, and of course, it did.  
The guy that worked here was hot. Like, real hot.  
Just as hot as Tyler's face, seeing as it practically burned out of shame.  
It didn't help that both Jenna and the hot one were laughing.

"'m sorry", he muttered. "Hope I didn't break anything."  
"I'm sure it's fine", the hottie answered, and Tyler's heart skipped a beat.

His hair were bright purple, his arms covered in tattoos, a nose piercing shone in his face and his black muscle T had holes. Tyler didn't know if they were cut in on purpose or not, but, to be honest, there were more important things to focus on. For example, his voice. Because wow. And his eyes, god, the wrinkles about them and his mouth when he smiled, his teeth and.. okay, little boy was getting distracted.

He nodded, quickly, and took the hand Hottie was reaching out to him. His grip was tight and the man (Tyler had figured out by yet that he was probably an adult, seeing at he worked here) was strong. He pulled Tyler up like he was nothing and said boy had to take a moment to properly stand on his feet before letting go.  
Hottie smiled again.

"So, what are you looking for exactly?", he said, turning to face Jenna.  
"Billy Talent. It doesn't matter which one," she explained.  
"I don't think we have one here, at the moment, but I can order it if you want?"  
"Yeah, thank you, we'd really appreciate that."

The man, whose name still wasn't exposed, went and made his way to the checkout, the two teenagers following right behind.  
Tyler stayed silent, like most of the time, but Jenna was in chat mood, so she made light conversation with the purple haired.

"I'm Jenna, by the way. You already know Tyler's name. Who are you?"  
"Josh," he answered and Tyler thought this name just fit. It fit to his appearance, his voice, it rolled off smoothly from his tongue, but a little detail wasn't right. Tyler wasn't quite pleased yet.

"Is that short for something?", he blurted out. Jenna looked at him surprised, he actually said something to a stranger, even though he didn't have to and it was about personal information, something he normally didn't want to ask about, because he didn't want to make anybody uncomfortable.

Josh looked up from the computer he was now sitting on, smirking.  
"Joshua," he said.  
There it was. Joshua.

"Hello, Joshua," Tyler greeted him.  
"Salutations," Josh greeted back.

"Bless you."  
"What?"  
"What?"  
"I wasn't sneezing."  
"Euh.."

Tyler blushed again. Embarrassing.  
Joshua laughed.  
"It means 'hello'," he explained. "It's okay, though, not many people understand it the first time."  
Tyler nodded.

The next minute was silent, until the older one handed Jenna a paper for her to sign.  
"Just write your name and number on it, I'll call when your order has arrived, so you can come and get it."  
"Okay, thanks," she smiled, writing on the contract.

"And there you go," she said as she handed it back.  
"See you around," Josh spoke.

~~~

"I wrote down your number," Jenna told her best friend as they made their way downtown.  
"You did what?", said boy startled, looking at her.  
"Oh, come on, Ty. He was hot. You can't deny it, I know how you looked at him. Don't be that shy all the time!"  
"Thanks, that just ended it. I'll never be shy again, whoo!", he exposed sarcastically, causing Jenna to laugh.  
"See? You can act opened up around me and the others, just show that side more. People like you, Ty."

"I don't care," he muttered.

But that was wrong. Actually, he cared way too much.

~~~

There was something about this brown haired boy that made Josh feel light around his chest. He didn't know what it was, but he liked looking at him. Those squishy cheeks, freckles and brown eyes, his fluffy hair, tiny statue, it was all mixed together so well, so beautiful, like pure art and Josh liked it. He liked looking at Tyler.

And the only thing he liked more in that moment was the fact that Jenna had written down Tyler's name on the contract, not hers, so he hoped it was his number, too.  
He also hoped Tyler wouldn't be mad that he saved him in his phone.

But 'Tyler Joseph' was a name way too smooth to not have a special place in an iPhone with a Alien cover.


	3. three

Tyler wasn’t up for any kind of human interaction. Who could blame him? He just got home after a week full of exams and obnoxiously loud classmates, he deserved the weekend.  
Sadly, his mother didn't think so.

After telling him about a later happening family party (for whatever reason), she practically forced him to do grocery shopping and so he took off the sweatpants and an old band shirt he was literally wearing for three minutes and changed into black skinny jeans, an oversized black hoodie and a black cap.

Not wanting to waste the little time he would have later to be an antisocial piece of trash and browse Tumblr, he went downstairs right away, with his journey only being interrupted by Jay, who accidently bumped into Tyler while chasing Madison.   
God knows what was going on again.

After taking the list with the things they needed, he headed outdoors to get into his mother's car.  
Yes, that's right, Tyler Joseph actually had his driver’s license. He got it just a few weeks ago, but he didn't like driving when he could avoid it. Although, he was too lazy to go to Target and back, this day.

~~

All the way through getting the stuff he was supposed to buy, his mind wasn’t really were it should have been. Instead, it went back to the music store, to the man that now had his phone number, the man that would be calling him some time soon, and he wasn’t ready.  
It was already embarrassing enough to fall while first talking to someone and almost rip off an entire shelf, he didn't need to make a total fool of himself again.  
And he was really mad at Jenna.

Of course he appreciated the fact, that she tried to help him make friends and get to know (kinda hot) people, but he simply wanted her to stop. He wasn’t for social interaction, nor for going out. Going on dates, flirting, all that stuff. That wasn't him.  
He didn't want to get set up with any guy that passed his way, he just wanted to stay in bed the whole day, binge watching Modern Family and talking to his friends on the phone.  
Not in real life.  
But not with the great Jenna Black.  
Damn that girl with her stupid socializing and talking. He was fine with only three friends.  
He didn't need anyone besides Jenna, Pete and Dallon. They were his family and he was happy this way, even though they always tried to ‘get him out of his shell’.

Right now, however, nobody had to try said thing, no one besides him, at least, because he did have to do some talking in order to pay for stuff. Thank heaven’s he was able to do that by himself.  
Feel the eyeroll.

~~

Now, sitting besides his siblings under the wooden pavilion in their garden, he let his gaze wander over all the relatives gathered on the Joseph’s property.  
What would happen if they found out I was gay?, he thought.  
Would they accept it or hit me with their bibles?

He hadn’t come out to anyone besides his closest circle, that being his parents, siblings and friends, and to be honest, he didn't plan on doing it anytime soon. He still remembered the way his uncle’s eyebrows furrowed together when he saw two girls holding hands at the train station, or his cousin talking shit about a guy wearing make up.  
Shouldn't they just love him, no matter what?

At this point, he was thinking so much, he was waiting for his head to fall off, but instead his sister nudged him lightly.  
“Ty? Your phone is ringing,” she said, pointing at the vibrating device on the floor.  
He picked it up, not bothering to see who was calling. The only person calling him was anyway just Jenna, Dallon sometimes, too, but only if something really important had happened. Like finding a new band he liked or not understanding maths homework. As if Tyler could help him with some shit like that.

The only problem in this case was that it wasn’t, in fact, Jenna.  
“Hello?”, someone said on the other line.  
“Is this Tyler Joseph?”

Tyler blinked once - or twice, maybe even three times, causing his siblings to shoot him worried looks - before anwering.  
“Euh, yes. Who’s this?”, he asked quietly, looking at the black vans on his feet.  
He was so colorful today.

“It’s Josh. From the music store, remember? I helped you up,” the voice - Josh - laughed.  
Tyler felt his cheeks redden at the thought of the incident and as he looked up slightly, he saw questioning looks on his brothers faces. Madison was too focused on food to notice.   
“Yeah, I remember,” he mumbled. “So.. what's up?”  
“Well, your CD is here and I thought you might wanna get it?”  
“Of course, yes, but.. I’m kinda.. busy?”  
“Oh, don't worry, it's here for couple of days. I just thought it's important because your girlfriend said you need it next week and we close soon,” Josh explained.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Tyler said.   
“What?”  
“Jenna’s not my girlfriend. Doesn't matter anyway. When do you close?”  
“In about an hour, I guess. Don't really know, sorry,” he answered and Tyler meant to hear a little smirk, what didn't make any sense, seeing as you can't hear a facial expression, but he liked the thought of it.

“Alright. I’m coming, just stay open for a little while, okay?”  
He smiled, when Josh agreed and hung up, but the smile faded the moment he saw his brothers looking at him.

“Do you have somewhere to go to, Tyler?”, Zack asked sternly.  
“Or should we say, someone?”, Jay added.   
“Wait, are you going on a date?”, his sister threw in confused, her food not existing anymore.

“Nope,” he said quickly as he stood up, and he could still feel his brothers’ overprotectiveness when he was already starting the car.


	4. ;four

Josh sat behind the counter and shot nervous glances around the shop every ten seconds.  
He knew Tyler coming by wasn’t much of a big deal, but the young boy made him nervous in a way he hasn't been in years. It wasn’t bad, he felt somewhat happy talking to him, he just thought it was weird, since he’s only spoken to the brunette about two times.  
Some people simply make you feel good.

“Hey, J? You okay?”  
Brendon’s voice snapped him out of his trance, and the bigger one of the pair lead his hand to his pocket, grabbing a pack of smokes.  
“Yeah, ‘m fine. Why?”, he said, taking a lighter, too.  
“You look like a paranoid meth-junkie.”  
Josh rolled his eyes, not bothering to give an answer.

“You’re not allowed to smoke inside the shop,” Brendon tried again.  
“Watch me, you pussy.”  
“Don’t call me a pussy, fucking dick.”

Josh didn't look up. He had no idea what was going on with him, because this wasn’t just being nervous. He guessed he just had a bad day.  
Sighing, he put his head down in his hand, as the dark-haired man snatched the cigarette away.  
“Bren, what the fuck?”  
“No, Joshua. Bad Joshua. Stop it!” Brendon laughed as he stepped away.  
Josh stood up, trying to grab it, but his friend was faster. He repeated it a few times, until the both of them ended up weirdly wrapped up, laughing like complete idiots.

“Uhm.. guys?”  
They stopped, right like they were - Brendon’s leg stretched out in the air, Josh’s left arm wrapped around his friend’s waist and his right one trying to reach the dark haired’s hand with the cigarette. Their heads turned around, mouths open, to face the soft voice that had interrupted their little fight and found themselves staring at Tyler, still not moving.  
He looked back at them, his hand on the doorknob, and he seemed to be a bit creeped out.

Josh nudged Brendon’s side, who then lead the smoke to the purple haired’s mouth. The latter held it in between his teeth for a moment, before he leaned back against the counter.

“So,” he said and took the cigarette back in his hand. “Here for the CD?”  
“I guess so,” Tyler answered and Brendon went to the back, to get the wanted item, as Josh assumed.

“About what you just saw..”  
“No, no, forget about it. I don't even want to know the subtext,” the younger told him, holding his hand up in a rejecting manner.  
“Alright, yeah, it's for the better I guess..”  
“Probably,” Tyler said, exhaling, and Josh laughed, making the brunette smile.

The man stopped, fascinated by the way his face lit up and didn't realize how awkward it had to look, until Tyler’s cheeks became a dark shade of red and his best friend’s voice chimed in from behind.

“Aw, what happened? Did I miss some flirting?”

Josh turned around, glaring at the man with a cheeky smirk on his face, while the boy next to the door stuttered something nobody really understood.  
Sighing, he looked at his shoes for a moment, before opening his mouth again.  
“Can I just pay and leave again, please?”

“What, you hate us so much?”  
Brendon faked a sob, causing the other man to hit him in the chest.  
“Shut the fuck up, man,” he hissed.  
“Of course you can,” he then told Tyler, walking behind the counter again.

The brunette stepped forwards, watching as Brendon laid the item down and Josh did all the stuff he had to.  
He felt sorry for the smaller boy, apparently he had spent time with someone, and now he had to walk in on two weirdos fighting about a cigarette and making him uncomfortable.  
So he gave him a - hopefully - reassuring smile, ended the procedure and watched as he stepped outside again.

“Come on, man. Don't look like a sad puppy.”  
“I don't.”  
“You totally do. Now just go after him.”  
“Why should I?” He turned to Brendon, raising an eyebrow and stuffing the cigarette in his pocket. He didn't feel like smoking anymore.  
“Because I’m trying to be a good friend here and you seem to like him.”  
“I don't know him, Bren.”  
“Then get to. At least text him later. Promise me.”  
“Will you leave me alone then?”

The other nodded and Josh sighed again, mumbling a quiet “okay.”, before they got back to doing nothing until they had to close.

It wasn’t until later that evening, Brendon had fallen asleep with the head on Josh’s legs while watching Fight Club, when he got bored and picked up his phone, typing out a 'hi.'


	5. ;five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler gets embarrassed by his friends and is pretty much ready to die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know i use 'just' way too often, but don't judge, that's rude.  
> also, this is the third time uploading it because it cuts out random parts and refuses to show the second half of the chapter?? it pisses me off. so i decided to split it into two chapters, hooray.  
> anyway, enjoy.

Tyler watched Pete and Jenna jam out to 'Marina and the Diamonds' while himself and Dallon screamed their lungs out and called it 'singing'.  
His whole family was out for the weekend, having left for a thing with his uncle he didn't plan to attend, so he invited his friends over. Dallon somehow managed to get booze and now they were having the time of their unpopular lifes.

Somewhen between Pete spinning around in a chair and Dallon eating cereal, his phone made a sound and he got up from his conversation with his best friend to look at the text message.

from: unknown number  
hi.

Confused, he drew his eyebrow up. Who would message him? His friends were saved in his phone and nobody else had ever shown any interest in him, except maybe..

from: Tyler Joseph  
Joshua?

"Hey, Ty, who's more important than us right now?"  
He looked at Pete smirking and sighed.  
"I don't know, somebody just messaged me, but it's probably just a wrong number case."

"Or maybe it's Josh. You know, I think he likes you," Jenna said and smiled knowingly.  
"Who's Josh?", Dallon threw in confused.  
"Oh, just some guy we met at the mall. He works at the music place and seemed to have interest in Tyler."  
By now, all eyes were on Tyler and he didn't even want to imagine what shade of red was currently garnishing his face. He shifted uncomfortably, before muttering a "That's not true."  
"Alright, now I wanna hear the whole story," Pete said and Tyler glanced back at his phone as Jenna started to tell the unbelievably impressive story on how he totally met his soulmate.

from: unknown number  
oh yeah sorry, should have said that lmao

from: Tyler Joseph  
No no, don't worry, it's fine :)

from: Joshua  
great :) so what r u doing?

Tyler fidgeted, shooting a look at his gossiping friends distributed in his room.

from: Tyler Joseph  
Just listening to music with friends over, and you?

"Now is it this guy or not?", he heard Dallon say. "I need to know if it's worth the drama."

"Uh, yeah," Tyler answered and Jenna let out a pleased squeal.  
"I knew it!", she shouted. "What does he want?"  
"He just asked what I'm doing, nothing big."

Even though he didn't think much of it, those have definitely been the wrong words, seeing as his companions sighed simultaneously and went off into a rant about how Joshua surely wanted to meet up, go out and make babies.  
Stupid, he thought. We can't make babies. We're boys.

He unlocked his phone and opened the chat again, reading the latest sent message.

from: Joshua  
currently being used as a pillow. somebody had to fall asleep while watching fight club

from: Tyler Joseph  
aww, your girlfriend?

from: Joshua  
lmao nah man i'm gay af, brendon's just to stupid to use an actual pillow

"Tyler, listen to us!"

from: Tyler Joseph  
Brendon's the hyper and somehow intimidating co-worker?

By now he was ignoring his friends' shouts and - in Pete's case - weird noises to get attention (some where more involved in it than others - some being Jenna and others being Dallon, who was spread out on the carpet after somewhen moving onto the floor).  
It wasn't nice of him to do so, but he didn't enjoy being shipped with someone and they were definitely doing so right now.  
Is that how celebrities feel?

from: Joshua  
yeah he has ADHD but he's actually a p chill guy + my best friend for life (years) soo and sorry if he scared you he's.. well he's Brendon

from: Tyler Joseph  
oh that sounds cool :) and I didn't want to be rude or anything

from: Joshua  
yep :) and you weren't, don't panic. so how're your friends?

from: Tyler Joseph  
They're cool, I guess? Kind of loud.

from: Joshua  
sounds fun haha. man, look at us getting to know each other.


	6. ;six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler gets embarrassed by his friends and is pretty much ready to die pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second time uploading the second half because ao3 hates me

Tyler wanted to answer. He really did. But he ignored Pete for a little too long and that never lead to good things.  
He remembered back in the beginning of the school year, when he was listening to the teacher instead of Peter and his amazing friend hit his head so hard on the table, Tyler had a bruise on his forehead for weeks.  
This time, he only snatched his phone out of his hands, but he recorded the most embarassing voice message of all times.

"Listen up, my fucker," he yelled as Jenna cheered and Tyler mentally wrote down his last will.  
"Tyler is my man, alright, and if you're gonna hurt him I'll- GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF THE PHONE!"  
"It's my phone, Pete!"

"Shush," Pete said and - Tyler made a mental note to strangle him later on - proceeded to list reasons on why Joshua should date him. With Jenna's help of course, who also shoved him away every time he tried to reach for the phone.  
He had no idea how long it took, but after about ten arguments, such as 'he has an amazing singing voice' and 'he does look good, you have to admit' he started to scream. Just scream, nothing else.  
It wasn't even words, he just let out the loudest 'AHHHH' he could and hoped it would overtone Pete's speech.  
The downside of his wonderful idea was that Joshua would get to hear him screaming and Dallon started to laugh so hard he had to cry.

"And last but not least," Tyler's now least favourite friend said, after Tyler stopped his screaming fit due to Jenna pressing her hand over his mouth and not reacting to him biting her (she only whined once). "Even though the boy is the biggest virgin ever, what is actually a nice thing, I mean, knowing to be the first person someone fucked? Has a nice affect, doesn't it?"

By now, Tyler had given up completely. He didn't care anymore, his life was ruined and he could never speak to Joshua again. Ever.

"So yeah, despite that, I'm sure he gives amazing blowjobs-"  
Dallon was laughing again.  
"I mean, look at his lips. Damn, boy. And you just heard him screaming. If it wasn't as loud and a little more turned on, it would be great in bed, wouldn't it?"

Jenna let out a 'Pete, what?' and made a pretty weird noise as she suddenly was pushed onto the ground by Tyler, who had had enough and grabbed his phone before the other boy could react. Sadly, that meant the message sent and that Joshua would listen to it. All of it.  
He looked at his phone screen, having to witness how the 'last online at 09:53' display changed to 'online' and he started to listen to a 8:31 minutes long voice mail.  
8 minutes and 31 seconds of sheer and utter embarrassment and Tyler wanted to die.  
He got up and left the room, typing out a 'I am so sorry' and sending it, before closing the door and making his way downstairs to get away from the people who had just created the probably worst moment of his life.

_________

He sat outside on the grass, legs angled and head on arms on knees, eyes closed. It was cold, but better than sitting next to Pete who had ruined any chance he had with the colorful haired boy.

"Hey," a voice behind him said quietly, which he quickly recognized as Jenna's. It wasn't that much of a win, though, because if you mistake the voice of your only female friend with one of your male friends, you lost at life.

"Hey," he answered without looking up, but he felt her sitting down next to him, as her arm brushed his.  
"You know we were just joking around, right?"

Of course he did. He wasn't stupid. But it was still embarrassing and not as funny as they made it out to be.

"Doesn't mean I enjoyed it, too."

Jenna sighed and he found her hand to fondle with his hair, making him relax a bit. He liked people playing with his hair.

"I'm sorry if it was that bad, but Josh is a grown up, I'm sure he understands that a bunch of teenagers do dumb shit."  
"That's not the problem. Well, not all of it," he explained, raising his head a little, so he could turn it to face her and get a better look on his friend.  
"I screamed, Jenna. Loud and for a long time. And why does he need to know I'm a virgin? That's.. it's just unfair, I don't deserve this, do I?"

He let out a huff and hid his face again, this time in his elbow.

"Of course not, Ty. Yes, Pete overdid it a bit, but I promise it seems worse right now than it actually is, because you like him."  
"But I don't! I don't even know him."  
"Tyler-"  
"No! This is the first time someone showed actual interest in me, that's the bad thing. He texted me, he asked me what I was doing, he was nice, okay? And he had no idea how weird I am, or my friends are, but now he does and you don't show your weirdness to someone you don't know! Pete carried it way too far and now I can't talk to him ever again!"

He felt like crying. It was bad; he always tried his best for people to like him, even though talking to strangers was probably the worst thing ever. How did he have to behave, what did he have to say for them to not hate his guts? And now this dude who seemed to think he's likable and also was really pretty had to listen to a voice message like this.  
He could only hope Joshua stopped it within the first minute, because else who would never be able to go near the mall ever again.

"Did he answer?"  
"Yes, but I didn't read it. I couldn't."  
"Am I allowed to?"

He nodded slightly, but noticed Jenna wouldn't be able to make it out as he was still facing the crotch of his elbow, so he made a hand movement that he hoped symbolised to go on.  
Then he waited for what was way too long.

"He sent a lot of crying because of laughter emojis. And he said 'don't worry, that's how friends are. No need to be uncomfortable.'"  
"Did he really?" he asked, looking at her.  
"No, Tyler. He said he never wanted to see you again because he can't get behind people making fun of their friends."

He rolled his eyes at her, then proceeded to take his phone back and let out a relieved sigh.  
"Go away, Black."  
"If you'd only stop being such a drama queen, Joseph. And maybe tell Pete you don't hate him that much, after all."  
"But I do, you should know that."

She grinned and hit his shoulder, causing him to crack a smile, before standing up.  
"Just get back inside, alright? It's way too cold to sit on grass, especially at night."  
"Okay, mum."


	7. ;seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pete embarassing tyler again, this time in real life

It’s been a few days since the incident and Tyler found himself all the time texting Josh instead of doing what he was supposed to. Like right now, as he actually had Pete over for a ‘study date’ that has been spent texting and watching Riverdale until they realized it was getting late and maybe, just maybe, they should get going.

So now, Pete was caught up in maths homework and Tyler tried to concentrate on his english assignment, but someone decided to dye their hair again and couldn’t pick on a color themselve.  
The given suggestions till now had been pink, blond, red, blue and bright yellow, but as the (happily staying with natural hair color) boy looked down at his phone again, he had to stifle a laughter, because now he had the imagine of Joshua with rainbow hair in his head.

‘please don’t’ he sent, and after just a few moments Josh answered with ‘i need to show my inner gayness’.

He was done with this man. How could he ever think he was scary? Scaringly beautiful, yes, but actually intimidating? Sadly, texting was a whole lot different than talking and building up the courage to meet him again was way too big for Tyler. He couldn’t even go to the mall anymore.

from: Tyler Joseph  
‘josh, you’re weird’

from: Joshua  
don’t judge me. anyway, what are you doing?

Tyler looked at Pete, then back at his phone and typed out an answer.

from: Tyler Joseph  
watching my friend do maths hw

from: Joshua  
at 10 pm?

from: Tyler Joseph  
don't judge

from: Joshua  
sorry, sorry

“Hey, Ty?”  
Tyler looked up, finding his friends eyes on him. “What’s the root of 214?”  
“I don’t know, sorry. Why don’t you use you calculator?”  
“I can’t find it.”  
“Pete, it’s right next to you.”

Pete’s head moved from side to side and Tyler chuckled as his mouth formed an ‘o’, when he saw the device.  
“You’re such a brain.”  
“Why, thank you,” Pete laughed and then pointed a finger at Tyler’s phone. “Are you texting Josh again?”  
“He wants to dye his hair,” he said, nodding and his friend got up to sit next to him.

Normally, he would have hidden his precious device after what happened when they hang out prior, but Jenna got Pete to promise to never such a thing again. At least not to Tyler, that is.

“Do you like him?”  
“Yeah, I guess. I mean, we’re kind of friends.”  
“I know, Ty, but do you like him? As in a crush?”

Tyler’s eyes went wide at the question. What was everyone’s problem with him meeting someone?  
“No, Peter,” he said, almost furiously shaking his head. “I don’t even know him that well.”  
“You think he’s pretty.”  
“Of course I do, have you seen him? But I also think you are pretty, so is Dallon, and I don’t have a crush on any of you!”  
“Firstly, thanks man, you’re quite a gem, too. And then, do you think you could develop one? A crush, I mean.”  
He shrugged, thinking for a bit, before answering. “Sure, why not? But not now.”  
“You’d be cute together.”  
“You don’t even know what he looks like,” Tyler said, side eyeing his friend.  
“I will eventually.”

Tyler did not like the sound of that.

A few days later, he understood why.

 

Jenna had dragged him to the mall with her, since she needed a dress for her brothers wedding and her sister didn’t have time. Apparently she saw Tyler as the next option and didn’t accept a no. She never did when she wanted something.

Their current location was way too fancy shop with way too expensive clothes, but of course, a wedding is a once in a lifetime thing (if it goes well) and you want to look nice.

They’ve been roaming around for hours on edge, without stopping for food and Tyler was feeling like he was starving, but he couldn’t leave her alone to get snacks and if he started to eat in there, someone would probably beat him up, so he stayed and suffered in silence, craving Taco Bell for the sweet release of food.

If only Pete was still with them, so he could send him out, but he left almost immediately after they arrived, only buying some weird shirt.

 

Meanwhile, Josh was bored out of his mind. Brendon was home ‘sick’ and he had to be at work all by himself, until his other co worker Jon would come, which was in over one hour.  
The only amusement he had was Candy Crush and the weird dude looking through all the records, who would make completely stupid but hilarious comments every now and then. That didn’t make up for the fact that he was giving Josh creepy looks, as if he was observing everything he did.  
‘Well, have fun observing me unimpressed playing Soda Saga, bitch,’ he thought, catching him staring again.

A few minutes later - he had been for at least half an hour - he got his phone out and rang someone up, and Josh couldn’t help but recognize that voice from somewhere.

“Tyler, I need you to get to the music store right now,” he spoke and Josh sat up a bit straighter. What Tyler?  
“… Because you have all my money and I found the All Time Low album you wanted. Plus Papa Roach, so move your ass.”

Could it actually be this Pete boy? No, that would be too weird.

Would it really be, though?

“I don't care, she doesn't need your help with getting changed, come on man.”

He smiled a bit at his impatient tone.

“Just hurry up a bit, Joseph”

So it was his Tyler.

Little time afterwards, it was really his Tyler walking through the door, shooting a death glare at the boy, who was now smirking mischievously.

“I do, in all actuality, hate you, Peter,” he greeted him and walked towards the shaggy boy.  
How come he was friends with someone like this?

“Ugh, don't say Peter. It's Pete, Tyson,” he sighed and ‘Tyson’ looked more than just confused.  
“Why the fuck-”  
“DON’T SWEAR,” Pete screamed, putting his hand over his friend’s mouth.

Tyler looked over all just really done with Peter’s bullshit and Josh laughed, drawing their attention to him.  
Pete smirked again and Tyler stiffened, but he could still make out some joy in the smaller boy’s eyes.

“So we meet again, huh?”  
“Yeah,” he answered, taking Pete’s hand away from his face and coughing awkwardly.  
“So you went for yellow?”  
Josh nodded and Pete decided for yet another remark. It was like he had some serious problem with shutting up.  
“You look like a highlighter.”

“Well, my teachers always told me to highlight the important stuff, so I did.”

Tyler laughed and Pete nodded approvingly, looking at his friend.  
“He’s hot and isn’t a pussy, so I approve. You can now date him.”

And the addressed boy stopped laughing, looking like he wanted to disappear.


	8. ;eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no wonder I'm failing french, I always write this instead of studying

If there was one thing Tyler hated, it was family reunions. All his aunts, uncles and cousins in the garden of their house, little kids running around, obnoxiously loud people and always the same conversations.  
He wouldn't mind seeing them all, honestly, if it weren’t for the conversations. Someone died, someone got divorced, someone missed church, ohmygodhowhorriblecallthepolice. And the questions, hell, always the questions.  
“Have you met a nice girl yet, Tyler?”  
“How’s school, Tyler?”  
“Are you and Jenna finally dating or are you still denying your feelings, huh, boy?”

He could handle himself, but it's gotten to the point where he was so close to yelling “No, I’m gay, fuck off! Tyler Joseph here is a homo, you hear me? H-o-m-o!”

And sadly, his mother thought they should held family gatherings at least once every two weeks. There was no escape.

“So, Tyler,” his uncle started and just as he began to weigh the possibilities of how to run away and move in with Jenna, his phone rang.  
“Uh, sorry, but I have to answer that,” he mumbled, taking his phone.  
The tiny brunette looked at his uncle, who's face literally screamed ‘wait, Tyler has friends?’ as he answered the call, so he didn't see it was an unknown number.

“Yeah?” he said, glancing at the man opposite to him, who looked oddly interested in a teens phone call.  
“Yo, Brendon here. You might remember me from walking in on me and my best friend in a kind of weird and slightly disturbing pose at work?”

Damn, he really needed to start looking at Call IDs.  
“Uhm, yeah, I do. Why?”  
“Because you and said best friend seemed to spend a lot of time texting each other lately and said best friend never fucking shuts up about you, so I need to find out more about you, because said best friend can’t have a relationship without me approving.”

Tyler was quiet for a second, slowly progressing what the (not THAT strange) stranger just told him in about three seconds. How was he not out of breath? He literally just spit out a novel lengthed sentence without breathing in. Tyler couldn’t even go up the stairs without needing a moment to catch his breath.

“Said best friend is Josh, by the way. Just in case you were confused,” the man spoke up again, but - thankfully - a little slower this time.  
“I am confused, but not about that,” Tyler said as he walked away and left his creepy uncle alone. “Who’s talking about a relationship?”  
“I am.”  
“I noticed. But why? We’re just texting.”

He heard a sigh on the other line and blushed a bit, rushing inside before someone could stop him and ask about his conversation.

“You’re just texting, uhuh, yes. Just that. And you aren’t embarrassed when your friends says weird shit in front of him, and he doesn’t jump whenever his phone rings and the both of you don’t like each other, not at all.”  
“Maybe he’s just jumpy? And I’m easily embarrassed? It’s nothing..”

He was about to go upstairs, when a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him around, making him almost drop his phone.  
“Where do you think you’re going, lil’ brother?” Jay asked.  
“My room?”

“Who’s that?” he could Brendon’s voice from the phone and he quickly said “My brother, wait a second”, before looking back at Jay.

“What is it?”  
“Don’t think you can run away, Tilly. You have to get through this just as much as us.”  
“Don’t call me Tilly. And I need to make this phone call, then I’ll come back outside, okay?”  
“You better.”

↛↛↚↚

“Okay, where were we?”

Tyler sat down on his bed, leaning against the wall on the side where the pillow lay, and brought his knees up, absently playing with loose strings hanging from his ripped jeans.  
He inhaled, closing his eyes and putting his head back, so it was leaning on the wall, too.

“We were talking about your relationship,” Brendon said and Tyler exhaled again, rolling his eyes internally.  
“Oh. right.”

The older man chuckled, sounding severely amused and the boy wondered if he did things like this more often. Maybe it was a hobby of him, calling up friends of Joshua to make them uncomfortable. Maybe he wanted to have him all for himself. But Tyler didn’t believe that, Brendon didn’t seem like that.

“I just want to know a bit about you, I don’t want my man to get hurt, a’ight?”

Yeah, he wasn’t like that.

“I don’t think I’ll hurt him, Brendon. We’re just friends, plus I’m a nice person,” he said quietly.  
“Please just say a few things. You seem nice, but I’m a really curious person and he won’t tell me anything.”

“Fine.. What do you want to know?”

 

Twenty minutes later, Tyler ended the call and went back outside, grabbing a glass of water in the progress.  
Jay was by his side immediately, of course, practically interrogating him about the oh-so-mysterious person he has been talking to.

Tyler pulled out his phone, looking at the time and sighed when he saw it was only four pm. At least two more hours until the others would leave. He needed to have a serious talk with his mother about inviting their family over and forcing him and his siblings to spend time with them.

 

Later that day he was talking to his friends in a skype group call and listened to his Eminem CD silently playing as Dallon told them about some girl who had asked him for his number at H&M. Apparently her name was Breezy and he was yet to know if he was interested or not.  
Jenna was completely in her element as she asked him questions about her and gave him dating advice.  
Pete didn’t even seem to listen; Tyler supposed he was playing Piano Tiles, judging from the way his fingers were flying over his phone screen and his tongue was poking out of his mouth.  
And Tyler? He didn’t know what he was thinking. To be honest, he always got a bit of a gay vibe from his tree friend, but it appeared that was not the case.

Despite that, he - over all - was in a desperate need of LGBTQ+ friends, since Jenna was as straight as a stripper pole and Pete was - heck, whatever the hell Pete was.  
He has been dating Meagan for the time span of three weeks back in freshman year, and that was it. Tyler’s assumption was that he didn’t spend time thinking about it yet, or maybe he simply didn’t care.  
Probably the latter; that was what he seemed most like: not caring. Maybe he was asexual?

“Ty?”  
Jenna’s voice made him zoom back in and he blinked, looking up from his hands folded in his lap.

“What did you say?”  
“I asked if something happened to you today?”

“Oh,” he said. “Yeah, Joshua’s best friend called me to get to know me a bit. Nothing much.”  
He could feel his cheeks heat up a little and instantly realized he had made a mistake with telling them, because it was followed by seemingly endless lectures about ‘Stranger Danger’ - Dallon was really invested in this one - , safe sex (thanks, Pete) and ways to find out if someone is interested in you. Jenna has and would forever be a slut for romantic stuff; as long as she believed in humans, she would believe in love.

And it was rubbing off on Tyler, because when he finally got to go to bed at two in the morning, his head was spinning.  
Did Joshua like him? What were Brendon’s intentions? What the fuck was Pete’s sexuality? And most importantly - was Josh really talking about him in front of his friends? Was he excited when Tyler texted him? And was it illegal to be talking to him, or rather, would it be illegal to be in a relationship with him? What even was his age?

 

He didn’t sleep much that night.


	9. nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can't believe there are people who don't need ages to finish a chapter. ie, i started this during the whole 'the floor is lava' hype?? how? just how?

“Peter!” Dallon yelled and Pete turned around quickly, raising his arms.  
“Yes, Daddy, what is it?”

Tyler rolled his eyes and huffed a laugh.  
It was after last period - history - and the group of friends made their way through the hallways. There weren’t much people left, they all had left earlier, but somehow Pete and Jenna had spent way too much time in the bathrooms taking selfies together, and now they were just wanting to get out.  
Jenna had her arm linked with Tyler’s and was holding on to him, showing him pictures of a band she liked. Dallon had just been strolling along, commenting on their conversation every now and then, until he got his phone out and started filming the boy going in front of them.

“The floor is lava. Five.. four..”

Pete’s face got a panicked look and he looked around, before running of and jumping, trying to launch himself up on the lockers.  
He failed, of course, and crashed down with a harsh sound and a loud groan, while the other three were cracking up.

“I think I just broke a bone,” he said in a dramatic tone, just loud enough for them to hear and Dallon ended the video, moving towards the smaller to help him up.

“You know you could have just sat on the stair rail, right?” Jenna asked, earning a scoff from Pete.  
“Where’s the fun in that, Black?”

Tyler laughed again and they finally got outside.  
They were planning on getting lunch and starbucks, go to the park or the mall, and basically live the normal teenage life, because Zack and Maddy both had their girlfriend and boyfriend coming over and he didn’t want to be reminded of just how single he was, and his friends were much too social, so he had to be, too.

 

And he was, because he managed to order for himself at the restaurant AND the coffee shop - it were his proudest moments - and went to the park with them, sitting down under a tree and listening to music.

It was nice; he liked hanging out without being in action all the time. He didn’t understand why you always had to do something, when you could be all relaxed and calmed down, and just talk occasionally, not throughout the whole meetup without a pause. 

Though Pete had to ruin the peace, naturally.  
After a while he got bored and started throwing random pieces of grass at the others, who were beyond chill at the moment and beyond annoyed a few moments later.

“Pete, stop it!”  
“Never.”

Poor Jenna had green spiked hair due to their friend’s entertainment and her facial expression showed nothing but rage because of it.  
Understandably, according to her she had spent ages doing her hairstyle this morning. 

“Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz the Third, I swear to god, stop that!”

“The fuck kinda name is that?”

All their heads went up in the exact same moment, trying to figure out who just randomly decided to insult Pete’s name, and, of course, it was no other than Brendon, who only Tyler recognized.

But he stayed silent, hoping the man wouldn’t see him.

“Don’t be rude, mate,” Dallon said and Tyler shrunk further, looking at the floor.

“I’m not, ‘mate’. It’s not his fault he’s got a weird name.”

“That’s true.” Pete nodded and turned his head away from Brendon. “Hey, Ty, what’s wrong?”

God damn it.

“Tyler?” Brendon asked, and the brunet sighed.

“Thanks, Pete,” he muttered and sat up straighter to face the older man. “Hello, Brendon.”

“Dude, long time no see. I mean, a few days, but y’know. How are you?”  
“I’m good, how are you?”

He decided to ignore his friends’ questioning gazes.

“Good, too, yeah. I’m really good. What are you doing here?”

It felt weird to talk to Brendon, even though he basically told him about everything interesting relevant in his life on the phone a few days back. Not that he didn’t like him, he did, he was just scared he might be too immature for his concern and that Brendon would tell Josh he was a weirdo.

So he just shrugged it off, trying to act natural, which - for once - actually seemed to work.

“Just chilling. Are you going to work?”  
“Yep. You stoppin’ by later? I know Josh would like it.” Brendon smirked.

That damn smirk. Why was he smirking? He shouldn’t be.  
Tyler shouldn’t be mad about that.

“I.. I don’t know, uh,” he cleared his throat, glancing at Jenna helplessly.

Natural, yeah. He was so good at being cool.

“You don’t have to, obviously,” Brendon said now. “But you know he likes you, you two being friends and all, and our other friends like you, too.”

Tyler choked.

“Excuse me, what?”  
“I mean, we talked about you. Not in a bad way, though. I made J tell them about you, and they think you sound ‘adorable’, in Ashley’s words. Melanie ships you. She says you sound real sweet, too. Don’t worry.”

He didn’t want to know just how red his face was, but according to Dallon’s pitiful smile and Pete’s laugh, it was bad.

Thankfully, Jenna chimed in and Tyler wanted to kiss her.  
“Hey, uh, excuse me, please, but.. who are you? Do you know Joshua well?”

“God, I hope so. He’s my best friend. You’re Jenna, right? I think Mel follows you on instagram. All of you, actually. Except Tyler, he didn’t accept her request yet, you nasty.”

Pete burst out laughing again. Dallon hit him.

“Well, I gotta go. I’m already late. Just pop in if you want to, we just got some new records you guys might like.”

“Bye,” Tyler mumbled and he saw Brendon winking at him and waving at the others, before making his way to work.

He let himself fall back on the floor, thankful that his head landed on Dallon’s legs instead of the ground.

“God fucking damn it,” he said, crossing his arms over his eyes to block the sun.

“That’s not very christian, Tyty,” Pete remarked and Tyler almost smacked him in the face.  
“Fuck you.”

“Who even was that?” Dallon asked, pushing a strand of hair out of the smaller boy’s forehead. He loved his friends sometimes.

“Brendon Urie.”

“Wow, thanks, dude. Don’t give us too much information, alright?”

Yeah. He loved them sometimes.


	10. ;ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i broke my laptop but i stole my mum's so i can upload hi

Tyler got home around nine that day, and he was surprised to find himself alone in the house, with nothing but a note sticking to the fridge.  
Apparently, his siblings all went out and his parents went to some restaurant, so he made some food and got comfortable on the couch. They’d probably be away for a couple more hours, which meant he could stay in the living room without fearing about an invasion of his personal space.

He opened youtube on the TV, starting a Shane Dawson video, and leaned back. He loved being alone after hanging out with friends. It was great.  
Especially as he got a text message from Josh, because no one was there to harass him about his “boyfriend”.

‘do you think tyler durden would be disappointed me?’ he read, confusion written on his face.  
Who the hell was Tyler Durden? 

‘what do you mean?’ he texted back, and it didn't take Josh long to answer.

‘the first rule of fight club is, you don't talk about fight club. but i talk about fight club a lot’

“Oh, Joshua,” Tyler whispered, a smile on his lips. He was adorable. 

‘i don't know’  
‘never seen that movie’

He locked his phone and put it next to him on the couch.  
He needed to focus on the video, it was interesting, and if he texted, he would miss everything. So he ignored the next text he got, and then the one a few minutes later, even though his curiosity was big, and only really looked at the device again when it lit up and showed an incoming call.  
Josh.

Tyler was instantly panicking. Why was he calling? Was it a mistake he didn't read the messages? What did he want? Was it really that important?  
No, he reminded himself. It’s fine. Just pick up.

“Hello?” he spoke softly, careful not to say anything wrong.  
In contrast to Josh, who loudly yelled into the speaker and caused Tyler to hold the phone away from his ear.

“What do you mean you’ve never seen fight club? It’s a classic!”  
“I don't know!” Tyler chuckled, proceeding to pause the video. There was no chance he would get anything if he was talking out loud.   
“I guess I just never.. got to it, I don't know.”  
“Okay, that's it. You're coming over tomorrow. We’re watching Fight Club.”

Tyler immediately sat up straight.

“Wait, what?”  
“You heard me. This is unacceptable, Joseph. I can't believe you're a Fight Club virgin!”  
“So.. you.. you want me to come over?”  
“Yep. I mean, only if you want to, of course, but you kinda don't have a choice in this.”

His mind was racing. Joshua Dun wanted him to come to his house to watch a movie. The Joshua Dun.  
He wouldn't survive this.

“No, no, I mean.. Yeah, sure, why not? It’s gonna be fun,” he mumbled. “So, uh, when?”  
“Would five be okay? I gotta work till four.”  
“Yeah, of course. Neat.”

 

At three pm the next day, nothing was neat. In fact, the complete opposite was happening.  
Tyler was pacing around in his room. He didn't know if he should keep his clothes from school on or change, if he should take another shower and if he should really do this or decide for the easier option and fake his death.  
To say the least, he was a nervous wreck.

Jenna said she would come over and help him, but she was yet to show up and Tyler was scared she wouldn't make it in time. What if he seriously had to do this on his own?  
What if Josh thought his clothes were ugly? What if he decided he just didn't like Tyler in person? What if Tyler fucked up completely and Josh would never want to talk to him again?  
Fuck. He couldn’t do it.

Right as he was about to text Josh and tell him he catched a cold (very tragic, he was aware), his best friend finally burst into his room.   
“I’m sorry, Ty, I couldn’t get away from my mum, had to finish homework. Are you okay?”  
“No,” he said. “I’m going to call it off.”  
“No, you’re not. Get up. It's gonna be fine.”  
“Jen, I’m serious.”  
“I am, too. What are you wearing?”  
“You’re not taking me seriously!” he exclaimed, letting himself fall back onto his bed.  
“Listen,” she began, looking through his closet.  
“You’ll be fine. You're exaggerating. You think way too much about everything that could go wrong, instead of focusing about the good things. You guys will have fun, bond over this movie and get to know each other more. Now, flannel or adidas jacket?”

¡!¡

Joshua greeted him with a hug and invited him in.  
It was a nice hug - warm and firm - and Tyler’s smile was almost as big as Josh’s own.  
“I made popcorn,” the older man announced, as Tyler took off his shoes. “And I have red bull and coke. ‘Cause I know you love red bull.”  
“How sweet, thank you!”  
“You’re welcome. So, wanna start the movie?”


	11. ;eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is really short i'm sorry

They didn't talk during the movie, except for when Josh got excited and pointed out when something ‘totally awesome’ was going to happen, so Tyler didn't have to worry about saying something wrong, and he was able to fully the enjoy the movie.

To be honest, he didn't quite understand why the older boy loved it as much as he did, but he did see why he liked it and it made his heart flutter whenever Joshua grinned at the screen or tugged at his sleeve to get his attention.

After the movie had ended, they talked for a bit and the brunette found himself being able to speak freely around the brightly haired man.

He also noticed that he was still smiling as he entered his own home again, shortly before his parents arrived from work, and tried to calm himself down so they wouldn't ask any weird questions, especially since they didn't know he'd gone out, but he couldn’t help it. Something about Josh made him insanely happy, in a way that made his stomach feel like it was turned upside down, but not in a bad way.  
He felt like he could trust him, and like they would become great friends. He couldn’t think of a time he’s ever felt like this about someone else. It was confusing, but still somewhat beautiful.

Slowly zoning out, he went to the kitchen to pour himself some cereal and then went up to his room to watch some Buzzfeed, only pausing to have another small heart attack when his phone screen lit up with the message ‘need to do more stuff together :)’ from a certain yellow haired man.


	12. ;twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this story will end soon btw. i intended to make it longer but i simply don't have the motivation. i'll try to make the last chapters as good as possible though

The one thing that had always make Tyler wish he was in a relationship, was cuddles. He was, in fact, a very huggy person, and even though he and his friends hugged each other when they met, he could play with Jenna’s hair and there were always slight squeezes of hands while walking, it never was what he needed.  
He felt like a boyfriend could give it to him. Like if he had a special someone, someone who wouldn't give him strange looks when he randomly walked up and hugged them, someone who would play with his hair while he laid on their lap, someone he could hold onto, when he was anxious, he would simply feel better.  
(And for some reason, he started to want Josh to be that person recently.)

About a month has passed since he was over at Josh’s, and besides school and his friends and family, he was mostly talking to the man he’d met at the mall.  
Texts have turned into phone calls, phone calls into skype sessions and the day Tyler had been added to a group call with Joshua’s friends was what he liked to describe as the ‘best thing since the invention of Vine’.  
They had quickly accepted him as ‘part of their flock’, as Brendon had expressed it, and Melanie had told him several times how it was okay to be shy and quiet, and that he was a very sweet and handsome person, while Ashley had made a lot of comments about the music he was playing in the background.

He didn't stop smiling for ages after they said he should come hang out with them sometime, until Pete had slapped him and told him to ‘get his act together, he already had friends (who were better than them anyways).’  
It's not like he had agreed or anything. They may have been nice, but he didn't know them very well and also didn't want to intrude, no matter how often Josh had told him that wasn’t the case, they’d be happy to meet him in person.

Sadly, he hadn't actually seen the man with the dyed hair since their movie ‘date’. Joshua was working and Tyler was busy with school, seeing how midterms were coming up and his teachers just seemed to love to torture him and his classmates by giving them way too much homework and unnecessary tasks.  
Often, he found himself still studying at 10pm, and fell into bed much too late and much too exhausted. It was hell, especially with trying to see your friends regularly nonetheless. He simply didn't have the time to worry about boys, no matter how good looking they were.

So, understandably, the brunette boy was beyond annoyed as he had to stop his mind from changing from equations to music stores and from assignments to bright colors and a smile that was just a bit too lovely.  
It really wasn’t the right time to develop some stupid teenage crush, he told himself several times a day.  
Especially not during a spanish exam, in which he wrote ‘Josh’ instead of ‘José’. He didn't even notice until he got it back, but at least the teacher didn't see it as a mistake and still gave him a 70%.  
It was really embarrassing, now that he thought about it.

Not as embarrassing as his attempts to figure out his calculus homework, though. Dallon did his best at explaining but it just wouldn't go into Tyler’s head, so even his dedicated tutor gave up after a few hours and suggested going out to eat instead.  
Chipotle was always a good idea, anyways.

¡!

“Hey, Ty?” Dallon now asked, and the smaller boy looked up from his plate to see his friend staring at the restaurant’s counter. “Isn’t this the dude from the park lately?”  
Tyler raised an eyebrow, confused as to who the giraffe was talking about, and turned his head to face the counter.

There, he found Joshua with his friends - including Brendon, who was ‘the boy from the park’, as he guessed.  
They had just gotten their orders and were searching for a free place, when one of the girls, who Tyler recognized as Ashley, spotted him.  
She seemed to exchange a few words with the others and pointed at their table, followed by all of them coming over to greet them. Or just sit down next to Tyler, as in Melanie’s case.

“Ty! It's great to finally meet you, hi! How are you?”  
“I’m fine, Melanie, what about you?” he asked, smiling at her and averting his gaze at the others afterwards.  
“Hey there, Joseph. How’s it going?”  
“What's up, Ash?”

They rest sat down next to him and Dallon, putting their food down on the table. 

“I really hope you don't have a problem with us being here, because if Mel sits, she won't get up,” Josh explained and Melanie nodded, smiling.   
Dallon looked at them all separately, quiet and after some time, Tyler thought he should maybe introduce them.   
“Uh, guys, this is my friend Dallon. Dal, these are Josh, Brendon, Melanie and Ashley.”  
“Yo,” Brendon greeted, immediately shuffling closer to the taller guy.  
“How are you?”

Tyler exchanged looks with Josh, who sighed, apparently already knowing how this was going to end, but then decided that Dallon was a big boy and he would definitely step up if he was uncomfortable, so he turned his head to the girls, who happily started chatting with him.  
He didn't notice Josh looking at him the whole time, though, and the man couldn’t be happier about it. It surely saved him from some embarrassment, because if the tiny brunette caught him staring, he would willingly die. But he couldn’t help it - Tyler simply looked too good when he was smiling. Josh couldn’t possibly miss that.


	13. ;thirteen

He came up to him just as they were about to leave. Dallon was already sat in his car, Tyler ready to follow, when someone grabbed his arm and and he jerked around like a scared deer.

“Oh, fuck, hey, sorry,” Josh said quickly, holding his hands up in front of him, in an apologetic manner.  
“I didn't mean to scare you.”  
“It's okay,” Tyler said, smiling a bit. “What’s up?”

He looked at Joshua, noticing how nervous he was, and got a little worried about the man.

“I.. wanted to ask you something. But it can wait if you're in a hurry or something!”  
“No, no, please. Ask away.”

Tyler smiled, hoping to seem reassuring, and was happy to see Josh smiling, too.

“I was wondering if you’d like to.. I don't know. I mean, it's stupid to ask that, because you’ll probably say no, because you're like.. amazing and stuff, but I thought I’d give it a shot, so,” Josh explained, making the younger laugh.   
“Come on, just say it. You made me curious.”  
“Okay, okay. Ty, do you want to go out with me some time?”

Tyler froze, to put it simply. There were fireworks exploding in his body, his heart was racing, and he swore if he was to move he would actually break down. So he kept himself steady, but still put a hand on the car door to make sure he wouldn't just fall backwards.

“I’d love to,” he said then, and grinned when he saw Josh’s happy face.   
“Awesome! I’ll text you later about it, then. Gotta go back inside now, the others are waiting for me. See you!”  
“Bye.”

He stayed still for a few more seconds after Josh had left, still scared of his knees giving in, but then he moved to sit down in the passenger seat.

“You alright?” Dallon asked, turning his head into the brunette’s direction.  
“What did he want?”

Tyler let out a squeal, a rather embarrassing one, if non embarrassing squeals even existed, and sank back, putting his face into his hands. 

“I have a date. Oh my god, Dallon! I have a date!” he exclaimed and was soon engaged in a tight hug with his (also screaming) friend.  
Hopefully no by-passing stranger was looking into random cars, or else there would be a really awkward moment to happen.  
Not that the two boys cared, though. Actually, the only thing he was worrying about in that moment was not to suffocate in the taller’s chest. And to tell Jenna and Pete, of course.


	14. ;fourteen

The day they had planned their date for was dark and cloudy. Not many people were seen outside of their cars and houses - the ones that were, were all seemingly trying to get back inside as quickly as possible.

Josh picked Tyler up at 6 pm on a friday, little over a week after he had finally had the guts to ask him out, and once again, Tyler was freaking out a tiny bit beforehand.  
It wasn’t like he didn’t like Josh, or trust him, in that manner, but more like this scary sensation of not being able to talk, smile or simply breath in any way.

He knew he had quite grown on Josh, just like the other way around, but understandably, he was still nervous. In fact, said nervousness had gotten so big that not only all of his three friends had assembled in his bedroom, but also his family now knew their little boy was preparing for date.  
Apparently, Pete really wasn’t able to keep his mouth shut for more than ten seconds at a time.

The waiting time before the older man was to arrive, was filled with a lot of motivational speeches, probably enough for Tyler’s whole life and the life after that, if there was one, and even though he was thankful for their support, he did have to say he was also thankful when he heard a car horn outside.

They said their hellos as he got in, followed by the by society expected ‘you look great tonight’s and made their way to the most romantic place they knew: Taco Bell.

In their defense, Tyler was a high schooler, and Josh worked at a store at the mall, which was nice, but not exactly as well-paying as he wished it was, so their choices were limited.

The food itself was amazing, and it wasn’t like they’d gotten particularly dressed up - Josh had gotten out of his sweatpants for once and even put on actual pants, so in his opinion, he was doing pretty well.

Not that either of them minded not being sat in one of the fancier restaurants of Columbus, they were more than just happy to eventually simply have their date and spend time with each other, without one or more respective friends interfering and embarrassing them.

Instead, their conversations were about music, of course, as that was what they had ‘bonded’ about in the beginning, but also movies besides ‘Fight Club’ and several TV shows.  
For example, they discovered they both were big fans of ‘Doctor Who’ and Marvel, so, obviously, they mostly were being nerds at each other, completely forgetting they were trying to seem cool.

They were talking until it was around 8 and Josh offered to go his apartment, since they couldn’t spend the whole night at the fast food restaurant, but also didn't want to part ways just yet.

Tyler looked out of the window and was met by nothing by a massive amount of rain just splashing on the floor, but he had finished his burrito ages ago and honestly, sitting there was getting kinda uncomfortable, so he accepted the offer nonetheless.

As they made their way outside, Josh also noticed the weather, as well as the fact that he appeared to had parked his car on the possibly farthest parking space away and looked at Tyler, sighing.

Then, he proceeded to offer him his hand and a crooked smile, deciding to simply continue being a nerd.

“Run,” he said, and Tyler took his hand as they started running to the car, only their jackets as a protection from the rain.


	15. ;fifteen

Naturally, they were completely drained when they arrived at Josh's apartment.

Tyler's whole body shivered and he had his arms wrapped around himself as Joshua unlocked the door and invited him in.

"Wait here," he said. "I'm gonna bring you something to change, you look like you're about to freeze to death."

"I definitely feel like it," Tyler joked and his host vanished, leaving him to stand alone in the hallway.

After a few seconds of consideration, the brunette slipped out of his shoes and positioned them next to the others on the floor.

He then proceeded to just stand there and wait, but Joshua came out of a room and handed him fresh clothes and a towel.

"You know where the bathroom is," he said and pointed at a door at the end of the hallway. "Those sweatpants were Brendon's when he was about fifteen, I think, but I'm not quite sure. However, they should fit you."

"Thank you," Tyler answered quietly and smiled, making his way to the aforementioned door.

Inside, he locked it and quickly got out his wet shirt and pants, happy to get them off, since they were sticking to his skin in an uncomfortable way.

Just as he was about to dry himself off with the towel, someone knocked on the door, and he heard Joshua asking if he wanted coffee or tea.

"Tea, please," he said and then put on the clothes given to him - sweatpants, a grey Nasa shirt and a black sweat jacket.

They were too big for him, of course, but they smelled just like Joshua - old spice and warmth.

Tyler could feel his face redden at that thought.

 

Josh looked over at the brunette sitting on his couch, a cup of tea between his delicate hands. He looked even smaller in the oversized clothes, his fingers barely being seen under the long sleeves and his collarbones exposed due to the low neckline.

He couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to leave hickeys there, before he quickly stopped his train of thoughts.

Tyler was only sixteen and overall innocent, even though he looked way too good in Josh's clothes.

After a while of (maybe, just maybe) checking him out, he noticed that Tyler's eyes were fixed on him and that he was blushing a bit, as if he had been, as well, looking Josh up.

The latter smiled, making his way over to sit next to the delicate boy and put his own cup down on the table.

"So," he said, still smiling. "What do you wanna do now?"

"I don't know, to be honest. We could watch TV, if you're up to it."

Josh chuckled, nodding.

"I definitely am."

They repositioned themselves after he'd put on some documentary channel, watching something about birds in Africa, or whatever it was supposed to be, and drinking their beverages, until it got late and Josh, being the gentleman he is, drove Tyler home.

Both boys had smiles on their faces as they said goodbye, even though Tyler's faded soon after he entered his house; of course, Jay, Zack and Maddie were waiting for him in the living room.

He groaned internally, already preparing himself for the following questions, like where his own clothes went, for instance.


	16. ;sixteen

It was four weeks, three more dates and a lot of dancing of around their feelings, when Josh asked Tyler if he wanted to come over for Brendon's birthday.

"It would only be the five of us, at his flat. There'll be alcohol, but you don't have to drink. It'll be fun," he explained on the phone, and Tyler wasn't completely sure why he immediately agreed.

Maybe it was because of his (not so small anymore) crush, or maybe it was because he finally wanted to know about the 'real high school experience', meaning getting drunk on weekends instead of binge watching 'Friends' on Netflix. He didn't really care, though.

So, the following Saturday evening, he'd made his way to Brendon's apartment, only half ready for the night, but determined to try and understand why everyone made such a big fuss about alcohol.

And it was nice, indeed. He liked the warm, fuzzy feeling and the laughing and the not caring too much about everything.

Josh made sure he didn't drink too much and accidentally got alcohol poisoning, since he knew it was his first time and was kind of a lightweight, and Tyler was thankful for that.

Just as thankful as he was for Melanie, Ashley and Brendon welcoming him into their group and joking with him as much as they did with each other.

They listened to music, ate, danced around and laughed a hell of a lot, until late at night, when one after one fell asleep, and only the tiny brunette and the yellow haired man were left.

They turned down the music a bit, to not disrupt anyone, neither the sleeping bodies on the floor, nor the neighbours, and moved to the nearby couch with all the doritos that were left.

Somehow, somewhen, they started to cuddle as they talked about not really important topics, but neither of them wanted to sit in silence until drowsiness took over them, too.

And somehow, somewhen, in between talking about the likelihood of Robin Hood actually existing at one point or the other in history and them forgetting about the whole 'being quiet' thing, Josh somehow was suddenly kissing Tyler, and Tyler was somehow suddenly kissing him back, until they parted, and the brown haired boy was blushing furiously.

They went back to talking after that, about anything but the kiss, and it wasn't until the light was turned off and they were laying on the couch, Joshua having his arms wrapped around the smaller boy, when he kind of touched on the subject again.

"Tyler?", he said quietly into the brunette's hair, his thumb stroking his hand.

"Yes, Josh?"

Tyler felt him sighing and his finger hesitantly stopped moving for a bit, before the yellow haired man breathed in and Tyler smiled slightly.

"Do you want to be my boyfriend, Ty?"

Now, Tyler had never really understood why everyone was making such a big deal of relationships. He knew they were great, and sweet, loving, that they made people happy, but he had never been able to get his head behind all of it.

However, as the question stood between them in silence and he could feel Joshua's heart beating faster, as he felt so many things at once that he couldn't even make out any special ones, that he could only describe it as insane happiness, and as he turned around in the older's arms and smiled at him, he finally did understand.

Because when he whispered his answer, a simple 'yes', so lightly he could barely even hear it himself, and Joshua grinned, his eyes sparkling as he held Tyler close, he felt safe. He felt like this was the most beautiful place in the world, in his boyfriend's arms, protected from everything that was out there, and he didn't need anything else, as long as they were together.

He had never understood how a single person could make someone's entire life better, especially when they didn't have a bad one, or how two people never got tired of each other, no matter how much time they spent together, until he had met Josh.

Josh, the amazing Josh, with his colorful hair and a smile that brightened up your entire day.

Because he always wanted to be with him, because he felt safe with him, because he felt like nothing bad could ever happen to them, if they just stayed together.

Because he liked Josh, he liked him a lot. And he liked him enough to call himself his boyfriend.

But the best part about it all?

He now knew that Joshua definitely liked him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i finally finished it huh  
> hope you enojoyed :)


End file.
